Jack Daniels Silver Select

This is the internationally available (export only) luxury version of Jack Daniels. My friend Gary Hodder brought some back from a trip to the Caribbean.

This whiskey is 100 proof (vs. 94 proof for the U.S. Single Barrel) and is, quite simply, a revelation.

It has much less of the signature candy- or licorice-like taste of Jack including Single Barrel. It is drier, richer, more bourbon-like, more complex than any other Jack Daniels I know.

In fact if tasted blind I doubt any bourbon expert could tell it was Jack whiskey.

I believe it is older than the Single Barrel version of Jack. It has in any case more finesse than any Single Barrel I have had (and I've had quite a few over the years).

Well done, Brown Forman. I believe this whiskey is very close to the classic 100 proof Jack Daniels sold in the pre-Prohibition era. As often happens, things take longer to change in distant markets and I feel Silver Select is sold there to appeal to the taste that has never forgot the true Jack Daniels.

Gary....I have an opened bottle of this too and I agree.....you can't tell its JD from the taste. I haven't tried it lately, but I always suspected the higher proof accounted for the richer taste....but it may be older too.

BTW, its widely available in Duty Free shops for $40. Funny story about my bottle. I bought it on the way to a family vacation down in Pueto Vallarta, Mex a few years ago. Left it on the plane. Damn....I was looking forward to drinking it in Mexico. Anyway, on the return, we check in with Continental and I think......maybe, just maybe, its in lost and found. They had it....and it stayed there for a week. Now if it had been tequila, that would have a different ending.

Hi Randy, thanks, good to hear your experience matches with mine because it means the Silver Select has a profile, it is not just barrel differences that account for the refined, bourbon-like flavor.

That's amazing you got that bottle back, I'd say it is a magic bottle truly!

I believe that pre-Prohibition and early (to the 70's?) post-Pro Jack Daniels tasted like this 100 proofer. Part of it is, I surmise, the higher proofs of the era (originally 100, then 90 before the later reductions) compared to the standard JD of today.

Jack Daniel is a good drink in any form but the Silver Select seems a cut above indeed.

Maybe one day we'll get to taste an old JD (say, 1950's-era) at a Gazebo meeting, that would be interesting, to see if the Silver Select is similar.

Sorry I couldn't join you in Chicago, it looks like the crowd had a great time. Just very busy at work now; maybe next year.

Sadly, Jack Daniel's has the same "problem" as Maker's Mark. I put "problem" in quotes because it is more of a problem for us. It is the kind of "problem" any producer of anything prays for, i.e., they are selling all they can make. The "problem," for us, is that this doesn't give them much of an incentive to make a product such as this widely available. I've often thought JD could benefit from extra aging, but I think it's unlikely that we will ever see a Jack 12-year-old, for example.

I first came across Silver Select in Duty free around mid 1999 when I worked out in Switzerland. I agree with Gary that this is a superb offering from JD.

I used to alternate between that and Gentleman Jack as either something for me to enjoy or as a gift to my best buds (thank God I choose them carefully or it could have been expensive!)

Now I think about it, despite the huge price difference, the GJ did not even come close to the Silver select. One of the best non Bourbons I have ever tasted and would hold it's own against any Bourbon in a head to head.

I know Brian is a fan of normal Jack so if you do manage to get hold of some Silver Select you will be in Heaven I am sure...

Not any tasting notes per say but I remember an almost Cognac like sophistication to the whiskey, pleasantly full bodied, carried the 100 proof perfectly and was silky smooth.